Video Game Review - Ship of Fools

Rob reviews Ship of Fools on Xbox Series X...

When it comes to pirate adventures, in my household the go-to title is Sea of Thieves. My thirteen-year-old, and I have pretty much plundered all that Rare's seafaring adventure has to offer - both good and bad. While the frantic moments of battling other players - or the monstrous Kraken - gained a sense of thrill, it's the downtime in-between that often resulted in the (not so) "Mini Pirate" getting bored. 

Ship of Fools from Team17 and Fika Productions has changed all this, and now the Lake family has a reason to once again hit those rough seas yet again! 

If you've not gathered already, Ship of Fools is a tremendous game. It's a frantic co-op adventure that takes all the highs of pirate life and throws it all into a tight roguelike adventure. With a simple gameplay loop that's easy to pick up and simply play, Ship of Fools is a game that deserves its place in anyone's game library. 

So, let's start at the beginning...

The Great Lighthouse. Once the shining beacon within the Ship of Fools world has gone dark. Because of this, the seas that make up this world have become a treacherous environment. Enemies of all shapes and sizes lurk in the darkness, just waiting to prey on any unsuspecting traveler who crosses their path. As a citizen of this world, it's up to you (and a friend) to venture out into the darkness and find a way to repair the Great Lighthouse. 

While the story is a bit thin on the ground, with Ship of Fools it's the journey that's the talking point. Across the vast oceans, you'll come across plenty of for - both large and small - that can't wait to take a bite out of your tiny vessel. It's these encounters that'll have you cheering one minute, to screaming the next. And when it comes to doing it all again, well... there's more cheering and screaming to be had! 

Once you've selected your character (out of quite a hefty cast), you're then thrown out into the yonder. You're able to traverse the map by interacting with the boat's helm, which then welcomes you with a hexagonal grid. It's this grid that you'll have to traverse to reach the area boss, and so forth. Naturally, it's not that easy, and the map is littered with various paths - all offering various upgrades, coins, and trinkets. You do need to plan as you can move backward, and after every three turns, the boss fight looms even closer. 

When you're not plotting a course, you'll be in combat against the terrors of the deep. There's never a quiet moment as enemies come at you from both sides. You'll be frantically loading whatever ammo you have into your ship's cannons whilst simultaneously keeping the deck clear of enemies who've boarded the ship and then making sure your weapons are facing the correct direction. 

What makes combat in Ship of Fools more interesting is that the enemies never directly cause damage to your ship. For instance, giant mechanical crabs will either get close to taking chunks out of the hull or stay at range and burn you with their lasers. Other enemies will also spit smaller enemies onto the deck, which requires some swipes with your oare to defeat. Going further, there's even some attacks that send your character to sleep. This then means that you get to sit idle as the minions smash their way through your ship's health. Thankfully attacks can be interrupted by a well-placed cannonball - or whatever ammo you have - and then the enemy essentially repeats its pattern. This does also mean that once the action picks up its pace, you'll be attacked from all sides - which does offer plenty of nail-biting moments. 

As your ship is ultimately your character's health, it's up to you to keep it in top condition. If you do take damage, this can be repaired by harpooning wood straight from the water, or from various treasure chests. There are plenty of other items to aid you on your journey, and items such as shields, coins, and stat-boosting trinkets all litter the sea. Away from this and the map will also display what grid these collectibles are located in, which allows some form of strategy as you go. 

With Ship of Fools also being a roguelike, it does mean that you'll start from scratch every time you fail a run. However, much like other roguelikes, there are plenty of permanent buffs you can unlock. These are all sorted from the Great Lighthouse before each run. Here you'll be able to spend upgrade points on all manner of boosts such as unlocking different ammo, upgrading the ship's health, and even what kind of cannon you use. There's no right or wrong way how to do this, and it does boil down to plenty of trial and error. That being said, even in failure Ship of Fools makes you want to want to return to the seas. Who knows, that one stat upgrade could make all the difference, and it often does. 

As touched upon earlier, the strategy does play a small part in how you play. Supplies you load onto your ship all have to be placed on a pedestal. This means you do have limited space on what you bring - and possibly discard along the way. If you move to the next area without an item on a pedestal, the item simply gets blown off the ship. While a second player can essentially hold an item in their hands as they travel, it's not an optimal way to play. Especially when they then throw it overboard and you've run out of harpoons!

When it comes to presentation, Ship of Fools is a well-rounded title. Its visual presentation is of a cartoony ascetic and instantly reminded me of that seen in both Castle Crashers and Cozy Grove. It's simple on the eyes, but also hides a very detailed world within. With the cast of characters being aquatic-based we also get treated to some cute anthropomorphic designs. This is also exaggerated by the names of these characters which all feature a play on their species...I'm looking especially at you Lotte (Axolotl, if you didn't guess!)

The soundtrack is also one that's worth shouting about. The musical score does a tremendous job of establishing both the tension of each stage and the grand adventure that you're partaking in. Boss themes enhance this further with some pretty catchy tunes that you'll be humming as they pummel you into the murky depths. 

And yes! The album is on Spotify! 

While Ship of Fools has a vast amount of positives, it does have its negatives. The main "issue" is that ultimately the game is too short. With only three areas to fight through, once you've tackled that final boss, there's nothing else left to do. Sadly it's part and parcel of the genre - it has to end at some point. If Fika Productions come back with some DLC or even seasonal events, then that's a different story! 

Overall Ship of Fools offers a frantic co-op experience that hides within the warm embrace of a humble roguelike. Its tense, and thrilling combat grabs you straight from the first encounter and doesn't let go. Whether it's your first run or your hundredth, Ship of Fools will have you cheering in jubilation one moment, to be screaming in terror the next!

Rating: 9/10

A code was kindly provided for this review

Ship of Fools is available now and can be purchased from the Microsoft Store. 

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Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow Geek Culture Reviews on Twitter, Hive, Facebook, & TikTok @GeekCultureRev